First in a series previewing Browns training camp. The first practice open to the public is July 26. July 22: left and right guard
No position on the Browns roster was as weak as running back by the end of 2013, so General Manager Ray Farmer made a point to change that in the offseason.
Farmer signed Ben Tate as a free agent and moved up in the draft for a second third-round pick so he could draft Terrance West from Towson.
Tate and West will contend for the starting job, but they are not the only new faces in the backfield.
Isaiah Crowell, a talented but troubled player in college, was signed as an undrafted rookie. He was kicked off the Georgia football team for failing a drug test. He was also charged with two felony counts of possession of a firearm. Durability questions also made teams decide not to use a draft pick on him.
Tate did little in minicamp last month. He had a nagging injury that prevented him from taking a regular turn in practice, but he said he could have played in a game with the injury.
Tate was a capable backup behind Arian Foster in Houston for three years. He averaged 4.7 yards a carry on 421 attempts.
Now that Tate is with a different team he says once the pads go on, the coaches will learn quickly why he should be the Browns’ starter.
“When I know what I’m doing, what I’m supposed to do, there’s nobody in that (running backs meeting) room that scares me,” Tate said at the end of minicamp. “I’m just honest. I respect every running back here — but there’s nobody that can really touch me or is close to what I do.
“I battled in and out every day with what some people consider the best running back in the league — Arian Foster. I’ve seen the best. I went against him every day. I battled it. So this around here to me is really not anything.”
Tate was talking about West, Crowell and holdovers Chris Ogbonnaya and Edwin Baker.
Last September, former CEO Joe Banner traded Trent Richardson to the Colts for a first-round draft pick. That chip indirectly turned out to be Johnny Manziel in the 2014 draft, but it left former coach Rob Chudzinski’s cupboard bare.
Willis McGahee, signed after Richardson was traded, led the team with 377 rushing yards. The four rushing touchdowns by the Browns were the fewest in the league.
West scored 41 rushing touchdowns at Towson in 2013. He won’t head to training camp as the favorite to start, but he wouldn’t be the first running back from a small school to shock the league, as Browns offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan knows first-hand as the former offensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins.
Alfred Morris, the Redskins leading rusher in 2012 and 2013, was a sixth-round draft choice from Florida Atlantic in two years ago. He was drafted 170 picks after the Browns drafted Richardson.
“Our job is to come out here and compete, push everyone forward to bring the best out of each other,” West said during minicamp. “That’s what I’m here to do. I want to play. I want to be the starter, and I’m going to practice like a starter.
“I’m not the fastest guy, I’m not the slowest guy, but I’ve got some good speed. You can see the true players when the pads come on. I break a lot of tackles, I make people miss, I can catch the ball and I can pass protect.”
Ogbonnaya and Baker could be battling for the final running back spot on the depth chart. Ogbonnaya was a fullback last year. MarQueis Gray was used as a fullback in minicamp last month.